Web Cam
by SweetFedora
Summary: Been adopted from insanepersonishappy. Neal is taken from the FBI office. Peter has to get him back. But what happens when Peter doesn't know what the one thing is that can get Neal back? Rated T to be safe here... H/c-Family-Friendship-and all that
1. Chapter 1

I am very sorry to say that XxXB-WeezyXxX will no longer be writing this story and has passed it on to me. I have gotten a list of everyone who had story Alerts on this story and am PMing them to let them no about my assent to ownership, sort of. I hope i will do this story justice. Reviews and even criticism (constructive please) is welcome. Enjoy the story.

-insanepersonishappy

Yeah, now I have it. Just for a couple more chapters to tie it all together. Just forgive me I'm really bad at updating on a schedule.

-LD

Prolouge

Neal sat at Peter's desk only being able to think about Kate while he waited for Peter to come back. Peter was in a meeting with Hughes and everyone else that actually mattered in this building.

Thinking back to when he woke up this morning, something felt off. He could just feel something was going to happen today. Something bad.

A phone ringing brought him out of his train of thought.

"Neal Caffery."

The only noise heard on the other line was slow heavy breathing.

"Hello..."

As the breathing continued he felt a presence behind him. Thinking it was Peter he quickly turned around.

"Peter come hea…" A pistol pointed straight at his forehead was the only thing Neal's mind could focus on.

Before he knew it the gun was slung back and hit him straight across the face, making his world go black.

Leaving the meeting Peter felt nothing but tired. The only thing he could think of was he was going to have to go back to his office with Neal being nothing but annoying wanting a case to start. Walking down the narrow hallway toward his office, he looked through the glass and noticed that Neal wasn't in his office and his chair was knocked over.

Entering he saw blood all over the chair and on the floor. About to yell for someone to get in there, noticed a note and a present sitting on his desk.

He slowly read the note:

If you haven't noticed by now we have your precious Neal, and you won't get him back until you give us what we want. In the box is a web cam, this way you can check up on Neal whenever we feel necessary. You have one week to give us what we want or Neal is dead and the longer you take you add on $10,000 dollars in having to pay us. But don't worry we'll play nice with our guest.

Peter ran toward Hughes office and opened the door.

"Peter?"

"Neal's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?"

Peter gave Hughes the letter. "I figure we'll place the web cam in the conference room."

Hughes yelled for the tech guys to hook up the web cam and anger covered Hughes features.

"I knew getting Neal in this would be nothing but trouble. Peter get your team in the conference room now." Hughes commanded.

Once in the conference room the web cam was turned on, everyone sat on edge. For the first few minutes the screen was black.

Peter held the laptop that the web cam was connected to waiting for something to happen. The laptop started flickering so the tech guys quickly fixed everything so it can be watched from the TV which hung from the wall.

"Well…hello my friends." The voice caused everyone to look at the TV. The voice continued "If you haven't noticed I have hacked into your computer system. Now for the fun to begin."

On the screen was a body tied to a chair. The persons face was down; there was blood all over the person's shirt. Everyone knew who it was, but couldn't bring it in themselves to believe it.


	2. Chapter 2

Obvious

_Once in the conference room the web cam was turned on, everyone sat on edge. For the first few minutes the screen was black._

_Peter held the laptop that the web cam was connected to waiting for something to happen. The laptop started flickering so the tech guys quickly fixed everything so it can be watched from the TV which hung from the wall._

_"Well…hello my friends." The voice caused everyone to look at the TV. The voice continued "If you haven't noticed I have hacked into your computer system. Now for the fun to begin."_

PPOV

On the screen was a body tied to a chair. The persons face was down; there was blood all over the person's shirt. Everyone knew who it was, but couldn't bring it in themselves to believe it.

"Wake him up. Hes' had enough rest." Soon a burly man with brown hair walked over to the body, he towered over the body completely covering body from view.

A loud smack was heard and the man walked away.

Slowly the mans face raised, and staring dead into the camera was Neal. Barely recognizable.

I could barley keep my lunch in as I looked at Neal's face. A black eye was forming on his left eye and his right eye seemed to be swollen shut. His right cheek was covered with blood. His left check has a black and blue bruise on it. His nose was bleed profusely leaking down to drop on his shirt. His lips were covered from so much blood they couldn't even think to look for anymore damage. And this was only on his face.

"Neal say hi, your friends are watching you." As the voice spoke Neal's body visible flinched. "Neal…remember what happened last time you didn't do as told." The voice tormented.

Barley even audible came hoarse hey.

"Neal I don't think they can hear you…"

A little louder, came 'hey guys.'

"We'll have to work on you vocals won't we now?" The voice once again spoke. Everyone time the voice spoke I noticed Neal's body would flinch.

"So, friends on the other side, I seemed to have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Jake Grey. Now I tell you this because I know now you'll look up my file. And yes it's a big one…Why so silent on that end?"

This man is out of his mind. "What did you do to Neal?" As soon as those words left my mouth I immediately wanted to take them back. I didn't want to know what happened to Neal.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you don't want to know what happened to him, but to answer a question I know you'll be having later, no, he won't be the same after this experience. Goodbye now. I'll be back in an hour." Just before the screen went black I looked at straight into Neal's eye. It gave him just about every answer that he needed.

"I want Jake Grays file on my desk ASAP." When I looked around Agent Jones and Cruz were the only people left in the conference room.

"They couldn't take looking at the screen anymore. I think because now they know the person in this case personally. It actually means something, other then another paycheck." Agent Cruz explained to me.

"Well one of you gets someone to pull up that damn file and have it on my desk." I demanded. I need to call Elizabeth and talk to her. Tell her what's going on and to let some stress out

After the fourth ring she picked up.

"Sorry about that babe, I was washing the dishes, is everything okay? I have a feeling that something is wrong…out of place." El quickly babbled.

"Yeah right on point sweetheart."

"I'm on my way give me five minutes," Before I could say anything she hung up the phone.

As soon as I hung up with El, Jones walked into my room with a big enough file.

"I'm guessing this is our guy?"

"Yup, this is him. You sure you want to look through this alone?"

"Jones my wife will be here in maybe three minutes I'll look through it when she gets here." I reassured.

I know everyone is on edge, especially because nobody really knows that this file says. Everyone knows that I was…am closest to Neal and don't want me to go beyond my mental limits. But this case has to be done as soon and as fast as it can be done.

El bursted into my office and quickly embrace me. She asked me the one thing I realized I didn't have the courage to say yet.

"Where's Neal." But my face must have said it all because her knees gave out and she soon fell into my arms where I held her and tried to stop her crying.

"El, it will be okay, we'll get him back in one piece but we only have 50 minutes to look over those files before it's time to back in the conference room to talk with Neal's captor." I tried to her soothe her as best as I could.

"Alright honey lets get started looking through those files and get whatever they say over with."

As soon as I opened the file I could only pray that Neal would be okay…But this was only the first page out of many that I haven't even glanced at.

"Peter…I…how…why? Why did it have to be Neal?" El finally managed to get out.

"Honey if I knew I would tell you.

NPOV

Pain. It was the only thing that I could register as I sat and looked into the web cam. My face felt as though it was hit by a car. As Jake had wanted me to talk it was hard because blood was going down my throat.

I couldn't help but wonder as to what he meant by "help my voice"

A punch in the gut brought me out of my thoughts. "What ever happened to a tap on the shoulder?" I managed to rasp out.

"Don't speak. We need to work on your vocals remember? So rest your voice and let us…repair you." As Jake said this, an uneasy feeling set in my stomach.

"Well, as boss I get first, I don't want the 'leftovers' of him." Jake laughed at he spoke this moving closer to me.

I knew what was to come from the mischievous glint in his eye.

"Please…No…."


	3. Chapter 3

Rescue?

_I knew what was to come from the mischievous glint in his eye._

_"Please…No…."_

PPOV

I can't believe that I was able to sit and read through that whole file; knowing what Neal maybe dealing with. It was just so much to handle.

The timer went off fifteen minutes before Jack would be back on screen. As the timer went off, I knew now that this was no longer some dream I was going to be able to wake up from. I held El's hand we made our way back to the conference room.

"Now, just to warn you, when we got off the cam an hour ago Neal looked really bad. I can't even imagine what he may look like now." I tried to explain. The images of him made my stomach churn.

I escorted her into the room and we both took a seat just stared at each other, not having anything else to say.

When Jones walked in he had a smile of victory plastered on his face.

"What do you have Jones?" I asked, thinking I knew the answer.

"Oh…You know…Just those guys who took Neal forgot about one important thing. We have their place staked out. But their not going in until I give them the word to do so." Jones explained.

"Well, seems Neal will be home sooner then we thought." I said secretly really excited. I just secretly wondered what they could do in an hour.

_One hour and 30 minutes Later…_

The screen still hasn't come up yet. My hands are visibly shaking from stress and anxiety. Elizabeth was no better then I was at this point in time. She held my shaky hands rubbing soothing circles on them. But from the look on her face I knew that she felt no better then I did.

Finally the screen started to flicker and the room was starting to show; the only visible thing was a white wall.

"Sorry for the delay my friends and I…we were…caught up…if you will." Jack explained, not sounding one bit sorry.

"We looked over your file…"

"And what did you think of it Peter? How did you feel when you read it?" He was so intrigued with knowing what I thought. So I answered truthfully.

"You're one sick bastard." I said bluntly.

I heard a rough hoarse chuckle from the background.

"Good one Peter." I think I heard Neal's voice try to say.

"Is that Neal?" I quickly asked Jack.

"Who else would it be?"

"Neal are you okay? We'll be there as soon as we can." As soon as I said those words, I regretted them. I may have just blown our over.

Jacks sudden outburst of laughter caused me to become confused.

"You'll never be able to find us." He stated arrogantly

The camera finally moved to the direction of Neal's body. His shirt was off and bruises now covered his torso and twisted toward his back.

"What the hell did you do to him?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"Oh you know, a little bit of this…a little bit of that." He started to laugh at his own joke. People in the background could be heard as well.

Looking at Neal intently I noticed him discreetly moving his fingers, Jones recognizing it as Morse code. He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and started translating what he had said.

Jones slid the paper in my direction and quickly read it, then passed it to Elizabeth. I could not help the confusion that once again filled me.

Why he wants us to wait ten minutes before we send in help. I have no idea as to why he would want us to wait that long to come rescue him.

Jack finally calmed down from his laughing fit over us "finding" him. "You guys are some good jesters. I haven't had a laugh like that in a long time. It's impossible to track us. Trust me." Jack tried to convince.

"You just think you're some big hot shot huh? But let me remind you of this, nothing is impossible." I said trying to waist time on this conversation.

"Well, I am a hot shot, I kidnapped a FBI agent right in his place of work, and yeah nothing is impossible, I pulled this off." Damn, he had me there.

I had heard a door open in the background and as soon as it happened Jones phone started to ring, and Neal started to do Morse code again.

Jack looked aggravated from the interruption, surprisingly not catching on to the coincidence. Jack just watched Jones walk out the office to answer the call.

I quickly ran out the room to meet up with Jones now understanding why Neal had us wait.

"Now! Send them in now!" I quickly ordered. Elizabeth must have been following me because when I turned around she was there. She quickly kissed me and told me to leave.

I ran out the building as quickly as I could and hopped into the car that was ready to take me to the Neal. As we sped down the highway toward the location, I couldn't help the stress that fell over me; Neal had to be okay. If he wasn't I would feel so guilty for not letting him come with me to the meeting in the first place.

We arrived to a familiar neighborhood...The captors took Neal to where I was going to have him live before he found June.

Quickly running into the room I saw the FBI untying him.

"Neal, I'm here are you okay?" I know…Stupid question.

"What do you think? I look and feel like…like..." As Neal tried to finish his sentence he became impossibly paler.

"Neal?" He threw up blood all over me. "Neal!" I quickly shouted.

"Hurry get him untied." The thought of his blood all over me quickly left my mind as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he becoming unconscious.

Paramedics hastily loaded him onto the stretcher and air lifting him to the hospital. I knew immediately that he may not make it.

I sprinted back to the car, and before I could fully close the door, the driver sped off toward the hospital.

When I arrived I ran to the receptionist at the front desk. "Neal Caffery."

"Let's see, he's in surgery right now. I'll let you know as soon as I can when he gets out."

She kept looking at me with wide eyes, so I looked down and noticed I was covered in Neal's blood.

As I sat down Elizabeth showed up and as soon as she saw me tears ran down her face and started to run toward me.I stood up and just held her.

We stood there for what seemed like forever just enjoying each others company. A doctor walked out with stress and worry all over his face.

He walked toward me after speaking with the receptionist. Slowly he made his way over.

"Neal Caffery?" He asked in a professional tone.

"Yes. Is he okay?"

"Hi, I'm Doctor Fredrick; and I'm afraid not, we lost him twice on the table. He's very unstable right now and we can lose him any second." The doctor informed me.


	4. Chapter 4

_"I'm afraid not, we lost him twice on the table. He's very unstable right now and we can lose him any second." The doctor informed me._

Please...Please Be Okay

PPOV

"When can I see him?" I quickly asked because Neal just has to be okay. Something being wrong with Neal just does not sit right with me.

"You can see him in about 20 more minutes, let him rest. I'll discuss to you what all we found when he wakes up." Being said the doctor walked away. Leaving Elizabeth and I alone.

"Honey, I…I'm going to go get us some coffee." Now Elizabeth walked away leaving me alone.

Knowing that Neal may not make it kept my stomach doing flip-flops, making me feel queasy.

I looked down at favorite suite covered in blood, but the worse part was, was that it was Neal's blood that covered it.

"Here sweetie." El said handing me some coffee. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until I tasted that first sip of bland coffee. Elizabeth and I made our way back to the seats and just waited.

After what felt like hours the doctor returned informing us that we can see Neal. I quickly got up and followed the doctor toward his room. Looking at Neal's room door reminded me of how much I hated hospitals. Because on the other side was a loved one, hurt, sick, or dieing.

Opening the door I saw Neal's still form lying on the bed. He was covered in bandages and his face was the same color as his bed sheets except that under his eyes were blue and purple; there were tubes going up his nose, down his throat and he had 2 IVs in his arms. One for blood and morphine.

The only reason I knew he was alive was because the steady beeping of his heart monitor. The only thing that was keeping me sane was that steady beep...beep...beep. I quickly sat down by his side…and waited….

_Six Hours Later_

As I was talking to Elizabeth her eyes went toward Neal's body which had made me look over. About three minutes after that Neal's eyes shot open and squeezed shut. Once they reopened his eyes started to roam around the room with a panicked look. He started to try and rip the tube from his throat, all the while his heart rate started to accelerate. I reached for his arms which made it even worse.

"Elizabeth call for the doctor now!" She stared at Neal for a second speechless and then ran toward the button to alert a nurse.

"Neal, it's me. Peter, it's okay. You're okay. You're in a hospital. We saved you, you're okay." I tried to calm him down and at first it wasn't working. After awhile he had finally stopped thrashing around and looked at me.

It seemed as though he was trying to say something to me but couldn't because the tube in his throat.

"Neal, just talk after the doctor comes in here okay?" I tried my best soothing voice.

He grabbed my arm and held on so tight; his eyes were pleading to me. 'Don't Leave.'

"I'm not going anywhere Neal. I'll stay right here, okay?" The sight of him looking like this made my heart hurt.

The doctor came in with Neal's chart. It finally took him long enough.

"Well, good afternoon Neal. I'm Doctor Fredrick." As Dr. Fredrick took the tube out of Neal, I turned toward El, and just hugged kissed her.

Once the doc. was done he handed Neal a sip of water.

"Hey guys." Neal voice was so hoarse I barely understood what he had said.

"I wanted to wait until later to reveal these results but I guess now would be a good time." As the doctor said this he moved toward the end of Neal's bed. "We found nothing really out of the ordinary from what you had said he may have been through. A bunch of bruises, a black eye, all indicated from a fist. Now on his back he has lacerations from what seems to be a belt. Or something that is relevant to a belt."


	5. Chapter 5

From here on till I say so is from the talented hand of insanepersonishappy.

And now we get to the part that I will have to write. I apologize in advance if my writing is not very good. Also I apologize, I don't know what they serve at Hospital cafeterias so bear with me. Oh and I won't be writing in first person.

_"I wanted to wait until later to reveal these results but I guess now would be a good time." As the doctor said this he moved toward the end of Neal's bed. "We found nothing really out of the ordinary from what you had said he may have been through. A bunch of bruises, a black eye, all indicated from a fist. Now on his back he has lacerations from what seems to be a belt. Or something that is relevant to a belt." _

Failure

Neal was okay. No, no, he wasn't okay but he would live. Before Peter knew it Neal would be sitting in his desk chair again, feet on his desk, lazily playing with his hat and wearing those ridiculous suits that he had such a love for. In a week or two he would be running around the office and Peter would wish that Neal was still in the hospital just so he could get peace and quiet.

These were the facts, plain and simple. Agents were watching Caffery and making sure he wasn't abducted again. Neal would be safe and Peter wouldn't feel guilty about anything anymore. Of course. Because Peter was a good person, heck, Neal was a good person, and didn't they both deserve a little good karma? Yet, Peter was still ill at ease.

He remembered that haunted dead look in Neal's eyes on the web cam. Neal had only once looked close to that broken, the second time that he had been arrested, when he found the bottle.

He was driving away from the hospital, away from Neal's battered body, and toward his work, where, still he had to find Jake Grey. He wondered suddenly what it was that Grey had wanted. Money?

Possible, he had held people for ransom before. That wasn't it though. Peter remembered the note.

_You have one week to give us what we want or Neal is dead and the longer you take you add on $10,000 dollars in having to pay us._

You don't ransom a federal agent for money unless you have a death wish or want something that only the FBI can give you.

What would it be that Jake could want? What could be that important?

He had raped and murdered seven women, but no one could find him.

He had raped and beaten to death three men.

He had held a four year old girl for ransom and beat her half to death.

He had tortured two teenage girls into insanity.

Never had he been caught though his DNA and semen were all over the scenes.

And, Peter thought dismally, that was only scratching the surface.

Neal lay in a fitful sleep at the hospital. He was having a nightmare, Elizabeth could tell, but she couldn't seem to wake him up. "No! No... please," he whimpered. He was curled up into the fetal position, cowering from something only he could see. He was obviously terrified.

"Neal! Neal wake up!" Elizabeth said softly pushing on his shoulder for what felt like the millionth time. He startled awake, sitting straight up, before falling back onto his pillows taking deep, long, breaths.

"I'm okay," he reassured a worried looking Elizabeth. "Just a nightmare, I'm fine."

She looked at him skeptically. "Neal, what happened? What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing! I'm fine!" Neal insisted.

El pursed her lips but she knew that there was nothing she could do. Already he was drifting off into a more peaceful sleep.

She stayed by his bed another half hour but when he didn't wake up or have another nightmare, she began to realize how badly she needed a cup of coffee.

As she left the room she saw the two FBI agents, standing outside Neal's room and was pleased to see that Jones was there. She would like to see someone try to get past him.

She wouldn't be there, but someone would.

Down in the hospital cafeteria El got a large cup of coffee plus a hamburger. She settled down to eat and thought about how glad she was that Neal was here, alive and for the most part okay. She had seen him in that room. He had looked like death himself. She didn't think she had ever seen the conman so... broken. She stared into the hot black coffee, willing it to show her something, anything that would help her husband find the bastard who did this to Neal.

Nothing.

Of course.

Seven women raped and murdered.

Three men raped and beaten to death.

A four year old girl held for ransom and beaten half to death.

Two teenage girls tortured to insanity.

_And a partridge in a pear tree_ El thought drily.

A nurse walked up to the FBI agents. "I need to check Mr. Caffery," he stated very matter-of-factly. He showed them his hospital personnel ID and walked into the room.

Neal was asleep.

The nurse took a syringe from his pocket and walked over to Neal. He injected the clear drug into the conman. He heard Neal's breathing deepen and saw his body, tense even in sleep, slump into that of a man who wouldn't wake up for another few hours.

Lifting the skinny man into his arms, the nurse walked to the window, the window right next to the fire escape. He slung Neal over the edge and onto the metal floor of the fire escape, and before climbing out himself he dropped a second small package onto the bed. Jake Grey smiled. He had his hostage back again.

Peter was in his office when he got the phone call from a frantic El. Neal was gone, again. He hadn't been safe even after everything that Peter had done. Peter had tried so hard but He had failed again.


	6. Chapter 6

*SPOILER ALERT* DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THIS PART OF AUTHOR NOTE WITHOUT SEEING THE SEASON FINALE! Let's pretend that in the last chapter when it said "Neal had only once looked close to that broken, the second time that he had been arrested, when he found the bottle," that it said instead "Neal had only once looked close to that broken, right after he became a freeman, when Kate died." okay? Okay thanx!

Keep up the reviews.

WARNING: violent chapter, including major Neal whumpage.

_The door creaked open and Jake Grey stepped into the room._

_"Hello again Neal."_

Scream

Neal shrunk into a corner away from the man in front of him. It did him no good though. The man swiftly reached out and grabbed Neal's wrists twisting them behind his back and tying them together. The ropes cut into Neal's wrists and he screamed as his shoulder was dislocated. Deftly Grey popped it back into place, earning a second scream from his captive.

Grey marched Neal out of the room and down the hallway into the a similar small room to the one he had been in last time. The web cam was set up again and Neal wondered vaguely what it was his captors wanted.

Suddenly a fist caught him in his side and he felt his breath knocked of him. As he struggled to take another breath another fist caught him and he doubled over in pain. Then another, and another. Suddenly, though, he heard Jake Grey's voice telling the men to stop. That he had other plans. Neal stood up slowly wheezing.

Jake stood in front of him holding what appeared to be a cattle prod attached by wires to some sort of control box. Neal shrank away. Grey grabbed him and pulled off Neal's boxers leaving him exposed and vulnerable.

"Tie him to the chair," Grey ordered. Neal was forced down into the chair and his already bound hands were then tied to the back of it. His feet were tied to the legs of the chair and he was blindfolded. The ropes bit into Neal's ankles as they were pulled tighter. Unexpectedly a bucket of water was thrown over Neal.

"This is to teach the FBI not to try to stop me," Grey said viciously. He nodded to the burly dark haired man who had stepped up to the box and pressed the tip of the device to Neal's cheek.

Neal felt the pain blossom out from his cheek and through out his body as the electric current spread.

Neal had been discovering lately that he had a very low pain tolerance and right now was no exception. He couldn't help himself and let out a strangled scream.

"Neal, Neal, I expected better from you! Don't you remember? You aren't allowed to scream unless I tell you to!" Grey nodded at the burly man again and held up a finger. The man turned something on the box and Grey again pressed the tip of the thing to Neal, except this time he moved over and forcing Neal's mouth open he placed the tip on Neal's tongue.

"Scream," Grey commanded, and Neal did. As the device moved around Neal's poor body, next to his breasts, then his belly button, then his genital, the inside of his knee, and finally his feet, Neal screamed like he had never screamed in his life.

"What was that?" he managed to gasp as the blindfold was removed.

"That, Neal, was the Picana. It's going to become your best friend if your friends at the FBI don't get me what I want! They better figure it out soon, though I doubt they will, even the author doesn't know."

"Author?"

"Never mind. Point is that was on the second lowest setting, so you can expect things to get worse if the FBI can't give me what I want," he laughed, "At this point I'm almost hoping they don't!"

"What do you want Grey?" Neal asked quietly.

"Do you think I'm going to tell you? You are pathetic Caffery." Grey hit Neal in the back of the head with something heavy and Neal relinquished his hold on reality gratefully as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Peter sat with his head in his hands. He was grateful and at the same time worried that the webcam hadn't come back on again, not once.

Across the desk Kimberly Rice was reviewing Jake Grey's file. She had been sent over since technically this wasn't a white collar crime.

Lauren Cruz knocked on the door and stuck her head in. "Um, you guys might want to see this," she said uncomfortably. The two older agents got up and followed her to the large conference room where the webcam had been set up. On the large screen an email was open. Peter could see it had an attachment. The email itself read ONE WEEK.

Lauren walked over and opened the attachment. A powerpoint came on screen. Maniacal laughter filled the room. _Poor Neal isn't in very good shape is he?_ A picture of a naked, unconscious Neal filled the screen.

_You have one week to give me what I want or things become even worse for him. As it is you have until tomorrow to let me know what it is that you think I want. If you get it wrong or don't reply then I will have to make things even more unpleasant for poor, poor Neal. He's counting on you._

A video of Neal being tortured filled the screen and everyone but Peter and Rice turned away. The two older agents, however, refused to turn away, filled with fiery determination to find Neal and arrest the sick bastard who held him captive.


	7. Chapter 7

SPOILERS WARNING: when Neal is talking to his mom there are some spoilers for the end of out of the box. Just letting you know.

_The two older agents, however, refused to turn away, filled with fiery determination to find Neal and arrest the sick bastard who held him captive._

Strong

Files sat on top of files on top of files as the FBI agents tried to figure out what it was that Grey wanted. Nothing could be attached to Peter or to Neal. A painting confiscated after the third rape case maybe? No, no that had been found stolen again about a week later.

Peter put his head in his hands and sighed. This wasn't right! Neal was supposed to be right here and okay by now! How could it be that his luck had run out so completely? There was obviously nothing in the files and Peter needed something else to go on. Really any kind of lead would be good but he needed one he was sure of. After all Neal's life was on the line.

Peter's cell phone began to ring. Absently Peter checked the number assuming it was El and was surprised to find that he didn't recognize the number. He considered letting it go to voice-mail but decided on the fourth ring to pick it up.

"Peter Burke," he answered.

"If I didn't know who it was why would I be calling?" Mozzie asked on the other end of the line.

"Mozzie this isn't a good time," Peter said tiredly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Suit. Would you like me to wait? Will it be a better time when Neal is DEAD?" he replied sarcastically.

Mozzie was shocked that the suit seemed to have little regard to the fact that he was Neal's best friend. He had known Neal for forever and the suit expected him to just sit on the sidelines? Not going to happen.

"What do you want?" Peter asked finally.

"I want to know what Grey wants, same as you. I can't believe it but we are on the same side here. I have a few ideas and would check them out myself but the FBI seems to be tighter on security than it was about a year ago. Trying to cover something up, no doubt."

"What are your ideas then Mozzie?" Peter asked curious, choosing tactfully to ignore the last comment about security and cover-ups.

"Well I did manage to get a copy of Grey's entire file, no I will not tell you how, and if you look at something other than the obvious rape and murder cases you've been looking at you would know that about six months ago the FBI confiscated a very expensive watch of his.

"I did a little digging, am I really having this conversation with a suit?, and found that the watch contained, this according to HIS computer not the FBI's, a file of some sort that was very important to him. I don't know what was on it though. Any way this watch is now in possession of one Peter Burke." Mozzie heard Peter draw in a long breath on the other side of the phone.

"The watch from the evidence locker?"

"That's the one," why didn't Mozzie feel good about this?

"I sold it on ebay weeks ago."

Meanwhile

Neal woke up again in the small room he had been in the first time he woke up. He decided this would be where they would be keeping him and was surprised to find he was somewhat relieved. Inside the cell his hands weren't tied and no one came to hurt him it seemed. He still felt jittery from the picana. Peter so owed him a month off after this.

He giggled at the fact that he was thinking something like that at a time like this. It was true though! His mind wasn't focusing on one thing and kept drifting to things he hadn't though about in years.

Suddenly he was back at his mothers Funeral.

_He stood to the side as the coffin was lowered into the ground. People in black surrounded him. He was one of them. The headstone wasn't real though. No, this was all a game. Any minute she would jump out at him and they would laugh because it all had to be a joke. She couldn't be dead. No. NO! NO! Sobs racked his body. A strong hand came down onto his shoulder. Neal's father's eyes were red but he wasn't crying anymore. Neal had heard him crying all last night. He didn't have any tears left to cry. _

_The final shovel of dirt was added to the pile on top of the coffin and Neal knew it was final. There was no chance that she wasn't dead. Really he had known all along, the chance of this being a joke of his mother's had been minuscule, if she had liked this kind of joke, if she had been that cruel. Neal heard his father let out a weak sob._

_"Come on Neal. Let's go back to the house," it didn't escape Neal that his father called it the house, not our house, not home, only the house._

Neal jolted back into reality and realized he had been nodding off again. His mind still wouldn't focus though and he could swear that that was his mother over in the corner there.

_Neal_, she called, _Neal!_

"Mom? Mom what are you doing here?" he replied groggily

_Neal, you can't let them break you. You have to be strong._

"I have been strong Mom! I've been being strong since you died!" suddenly he was angry at her, "Dad went off and drank himself into oblivion and I had to take care of him! Thank god he wasn't an angry drunk! I was always the one to take the flowers to your grave, clean up around the house, make money! Why do you even think I started conning people? Yeah later it was the thrill, once I had money and dad had passed away, but at first it was just so that Dad and I could stay alive after you left us! You left us!" Neal felt tears leave a trail of burning fire on his face.

_Neal you have to be strong, remember that you were strong before and be strong again. Please Neal. For Peter and Elizabeth and Mozzie and Kate!_

"Kate's dead mom. She's dead."

_Oh, Neal._

"Go away."

The hallucination of his mother faded. Neal knew she was a hallucination and that that was a bad sign, but she was still right.

He had to be strong. Be strong and hope that Peter could find him. After all, he had been strong before.


	8. Chapter 8

_"The watch from the evidence locker?"_

_"That's the one," why didn't Mozzie feel good about this?_

_"I sold it on ebay weeks ago."_

Three Days

Peter rushed back to the conference room. He knew what Grey wanted. That should be enough to stop him, for now. He had Mozzie tracing the guy who bought the watch. They could get it back and get Neal back. Mozzie had been so worried he was actually in the coffee shop across the street from the FBI office. Of course he wouldn't come in the building; the webcam hadn't been turned on again so there was no need too.

Peter pushed the tech guy out of the way and clicked the reply button on the email.

_I know what you want._ He typed. _I can give it to you._ Currently it was a lie. _Give me three days. You pick a place. I will give you the watch if you give back Neal. Give me assurance that Neal is okay; you will get your watch._

He leaned back and pressed the send button. The email seemed to take forever to send but finally it did. The screen returned to the glaring words reminding him of his one week deadline. Please let Mozzie find the person who bought the watch. Please!

His phone rang as if on cue and checking the number saw that again, he didn't recognize it. Expecting it to be Mozzie he picked up.

"Peter Burke?" a voice at the other end asked.

His guard went up immediately. "Speaking. Who is this?"

"You know who this is Peter. You have my watch. I have your consultant and friend. I can't be sure that you will give me my watch back because you can't be sure that I will give Neal back. It seems we are at an impasse. Whatever are we going to do?" Peter could hear a smirk in the man's voice. "Actually, I think you might not even have my watch. However I will agree to your terms as the three days falls under my terms and you are letting me pick the place.

"You wanted assurance that Neal is okay. Well, he isn't. Oh he's alive. But he isn't doing so well. You had better hurry up."

"Let me talk to him!" Peter said angrily.

"Hmmm. I don't know. He may be out cold right now. Let's find out." Grey had an eerie calm to his voice which perturbed Peter.

He heard noise in the background; there was the distinct sound of a lock clicking over loudly, probably for dramatic purposes.

"Well! Neal! It looks like you ARE awake! Neal! Did you hear me?"

The phone was on speaker now. Peter could tell because he heard Neal mumble "Go away…" but he sounded as if he wasn't talking to Grey. It had more the sound of petulant teenager talking to his mother than a kidnap victim talking to his captor.

"Were you talking to me Neal?" Grey asked sounding amused.

"No…"

"I have someone on the phone who would like to talk to you. Peter say hello to Neal!"

"Neal! Neal I'm going to get you out of this. I promise." Peter said urgently.

"It's okay Peter. I don't blame you. It's all my mom's fault. She left me and my dad. Where is my dad? And Kate? Where is Kate?" Neal sounded very out of it.

This wasn't good. Neal was hallucinating. "Neal-"

"No, no, I think that's good for now. Goodbye Peter Burke. Three days. I will call you with the place." The line went dead.

"DAMN IT!" Peter shouted.

"Sir?" the tech guy asked timidly.

"What?"

"I traced the call. I narrowed it down to a one mile radius in the city before the line went dead. It's not a lot but it's a start." He stared at the computer screen.

"No, no that's really good. Show me!" Finally, a good lead on this guy.

DAMN IT! Peter didn't get it. He didn't get the clue! Neal thought as the door to his cell was closed again. He had recognized one of the rooms in the building. It was the apartment where he and Kate had lived before being caught, the place where he had found the bottle.

The building had been vacated only a few weeks after that incident; something about shaky structure. Perhaps the plan had been to come here all along, to torture him psychologically as well as physically. Well, it was working. He was thinking of Kate. He bit his lip trying not to cry but the tears kept coming.

A new figure was appearing in the corner. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to get rid of the hallucination but the figure grew clearer.

_Neal…_

"Kate?" he looked up hopefully.

_Neal…is this?_ She looked around. She closed her eyes. _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for leaving you._ She was beginning to cry.

"Kate, I'm not mad at you. You didn't have a choice. Fowler made you do it."

_No, Neal. You always knew that I did it of my own free will. I did it because I loved you though. Fowler said that I was going to be able to have a happily ever after with you. I always loved the classics…_ she smile fondly.

Neal stared at her. Why was his mind coming up with such painful hallucinations? Damn his low pain tolerance. His mind was gradually beginning to clear and Kate began to fade.

"Don't go!" he protested weakly.

_Oh Neal, I have to. Just remember: I always loved you._ She was gone and he was alone again. For now. God, Peter better get here fast.


	9. Chapter 9

Alright guys, it's my turn. Hope you guys enjoy and its not to rough to read. A big thank you to my beta/proofreader/the one who puts up with my b.s. - j3nee! Thanks to her, this actually makes sense. And so here, enjoy. Please review, it beyond makes my day. Trust me, it's like El is to Peter.

Webcam, Chapter 9, Small Miracles

"Alright, this is good," was all that came from Peter as he looked at the information on the computer screen. A one mile circle of possibilities to where Neal could be; A one mile circle hiding a miracle.

"Alright, Jones…" Peter called out as he turned around to face his team, "We have a mile radius to explore. Look for any buildings or structures that are abandoned or remote. These guys are sick; they'll need someplace where there is a lot of noise but few or no passer-bys." Peter saw Jones make a quick nod with an "On it, boss!" as he ran out of the conference room.

"Diana, pull every record you can from the E-bay sell. Everything and anything! We need to know who bought that watch and where it went from there. Let me know the second you find anything at all." Peter watched as the last of the agents scurried out of the room, eager to find anything to help find their missing team member. In all honesty, Peter couldn't help but feel a small feeling of pride for his team as he walked out of the office. At first, all of the agents had been uneasy around Neal but now, he was a welcomed member of the division. Now to work on getting one con man back in to the office and get their consultant back.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Peter crossed the street to where Mozzie was sitting with laptop out and phone in hand. He was quickly and quietly talking away on his cell, almost completely unaware of what was going on around him. _Maybe he has something,_ Peter thought as he pulled the chair out across from the little man and sat himself down.

"Yes ma'am, I'm just calling about your recent E-bay purchase." A pause.

"Yes ma'am, the watch." Another pause.

"Yes ma'am. I need to know what you did with the watch, ma'am." A short pause. Mozzie held a finger up to stop anything Peter might have said.

"Yes ma'am, the investigation involving the watch was not completely closed. The FBI will need to get the watch back for a short time." A longer pause.

"Thank you. Yes ma'am. This is greatly appreciated. You have a good day, ma'am." And with that Mozzie hung up the phone and began typing away furiously at his computer. Peter was just about to ask what the con man had found when Moz started explaining.

"That was Mrs. Cathy Anne Bergarry. She recently purchased a watch from an FBI evidence locker on E-bay. She bought the watch for her son who had just graduated '_some fancy law enforcement school_." Mozzie briefly stopped typing to make quotation marks in the air.

"She stated that it was a present for him for joining the FBI." Mozzie never looked away from his computer screen. Peter nodded along with what the smaller man was saying, mentally taking notes and trying to come up with ways to get Mozzie in to 'The Man's' office.

"Okay, Haversham, that's great. Did you get the son's name or just the last?" the agent asked as he pulled his own cell phone out, hoping that Diana could quickly run whatever name he got against all incoming new agents.

"Yeah, I got the name. What do you take me for?" Mozzie mumbled to himself as he continued to type. Peter just glared at the quirky man in front of him. How Neal could deal with him for long periods of time was beyond the seasoned agent.

"Okay, got it. The kid's name is Aaron Luke Bergarry. Looks like he was transferred to the…" Mozzie paused as he scrolled further down. As he read, a look of surprise dawned on his slightly chubby face.

"No way, it states in his file that he was assigned to the New York branch." The con man finally looked away from the screen to stare at Peter, blatant astonishment on his features quickly replaced with a look of curiosity.

"Suit…" he asked is a worried tone as he took in the look of the man sitting across from him.

Peter was staring straight ahead of him, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"It can't be that easy. It can't be that simple!" Peter jumped out of his seat, Mozzie close behind him with computer in hand. Peter ran across the street in a mad dash to get back to the office building.

_Please let it be that easy,_ Peter repeated to himself over and over. The White Collar Unit had recently added two new agents to the New York branch: one being a Karen Kay Delace and the other an Aaron Luke Bergarry, both fresh from Quantico.

_Please, please be that simple._ Peter dashed to a, thankfully, open elevator ready to move at the push of a button. He pushed the button to the 21st floor just as the doors barely missed closing on Mozzie.

"I'm not leaving my friend to any chance," was all the little guy said to Peter's questioning gaze. The agent could only nod in his manic state. They both dashed out of the car as the doors _dinged_ open. Peter pushed loudly through the glass doors, rushing past the shelves of files, desks of junior agents' to a very young looking man sitting at his desk in the far corner near the stair case.

"Agent Bergarry! Aaron!" Peter yelled breathlessly as he came to a stop in front of the very startled brown haired man.

"Yes, Agent Burke? What did I do?" the junior agent asked in a very small voice. His brown eyes darted from Peter's face, slightly red from the running, to Mozzie standing right next to him looking the young agent over. The whole office was now staring at the commotion going on around the newbie's desk. Diana and Jones were half out of the own seats, at the ready should their boss need them.

"Nothing, you've done nothing. Did your mother happen to give you a gold watch when you graduated from Quantico?" Peter asked, still breathless from the possibility that they may be that much closer to getting Neal back, to getting his partner back.

Bergarry looked surprised by the question, needless to say, as he looked wide eyed at the leading agent. "Uh, yeah. She did. As a, you know, a 'good job' present for getting into the FBI. I wear it all the time," He said as he lifted his right arm up and tugged back his sleeve to reveal a shiny gold watch.

"Fantastic! I'm going to need that watch. Diana!" he called for the second time in the last 45 minutes. She quickly ran over to where Peter and Mozzie were standing around Aaron's desk the junior agent still in shock from Peter's request.

"Diana, check this against the record we have for the E-bay watch. Check it and bring it back to me." The young woman nodded and quickly moved to the file room to look for the evidence folder for the watch.

"And bring one of the tech guys with you!" Peter called after her as the glass door closed and Diana disappeared into the elevator.

_Now to FIND Neal_, Peter thought as he moved to Jones's desk. "Did you find anything? Anything at all?" he asked his g-man agent as he came up right behind him to look at Jones's computer screen.

"Yeah, I've gone through three quarters of the area and only 5 buildings are abandoned and one that's isolated and off the beaten path. I'm still running the last of the buildings in the area." He rattled off as he pulled up information on each of the six buildings. Peter began glancing through all of the information when he saw a little finger out of the corner of his eye. He looked back to see Haversham both pointing and staring at one of the lists of information of the buildings.

"That's- that's Neal and Kate's old apartment building! The one where Kate left the Bordeaux bottle!" Moz stated, maybe a little loudly. At his statement, part of Neal's ramblings came back to Peter's mind.

_And Kate? Where is Kate?_

Maybe Neal wasn't hallucinating. Maybe Peter was grasping at straws. Maybe just maybe, they had found their building.


End file.
